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Wednesday, October 11, 2017

SPOILERS: Dark Nights: Metal #3

You keep waiting for things to get better and maybe a small glimmer of hope comes through but nope... things just keep getting worse.

The Spoilers:

After defeating Barbatos, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Lois, Jon and Damian all wait for the rest of the league in Smallville, while Jon and Damian play guitars. All seems well, except when Batman says "Carpe Diem" then explodes into a bloody pile as Barbatos emerges from his chest, followed by the Dark Knights, who raze the farm. Turns out Superman's been out for while, and is woken by Wonder Woman. Clark says he's seen countless ways the fight could break out, but every time, they lose. When Clark learns of how bad things have gotten (IE, Lois has been infected by the Doomsday virus, much like the rest of Metropolis... I assume we'll see this in a one-shot in a few weeks), he goes to confront Barbatos... It doesn't go well and he's forced to be rescued by Barry, who brings him back to the Oblivion Bar.

Said bar, frequented by the likes of Nightmaster and Detective Chimp, is the last hold out of the league, plus the Gotham Resistance. Things are bad, but Green Arrow brings word that they know Nth Metal can kill the nightmares. Mr. Terrific does some science scanning and what not and finds that there are a couple coordinates left where Nth Metal can be found, as the Blackhawks destroyed most of it. Deep space, underneath Atlantis, and the center of the multiverse, which would be the Rock of Eternity. The plan is to split up a team, each consisting of a a few League members, and one hero with a connection to the other-wordly metals, to go after the caches... but Superman has another plan.

"Carpe Diem" was the last thing Batman said to Clark in his dream. This lines up with a secret code he, Bruce and Diana have, where if they are in truly deep trouble, they'll try and get a code consisting of the other's initials out. Superman wants to go to the Dark Multiverse and try and find Bruce, Kendra tells him it's just Barbatos fucking with him, Superman can't let Bruce go if there's a chance... that would mean they need a fourth metal connected hero if Superman is to take Steel in an attempt ot breach the Dark Multiverse... Oh hey, cannibal Robin found the bar, and now there's a sword through his face, because Deathstroke is there, and his sword is a special metal, fucking why not.

SO. Wonder Woman, Kendra and Fate to the Rock of Eternity. Green Lantern, Mr. Terrific and Plastic Man's egg to deep space. Aquaman and Deathstroke to Atlantis. Superman, The Flash and Steel to the Fortress of Solitude, where the Anti-Monitor's tower could lead them to the Dark Multiverse.

Long story short, it does, and there's an old as shit looking Bruce, in the same sort of bind Superman was in at the beginning, asking why the fuck Superman came after him. Superman says he heard the code, but as Kendra suspected, it was Barbatos baiting him. The only way to communicate through the multiverse is vibrations, and Bruce was trying to do so through the notes Damian and Jon were playing. D and C, as in the inverse of his code, as in "don't come after me, shit is fucked" because the real battery Barbatos needs for his evil plans was in Superman's cells, and oh look, he's got Superman now.

The Opinion:

I mean, do I have to keep saying that "this is crazy" and I love it. The book is at the point where it speaks for itself, and keeps one upping itself with all the shit that goes down in it. It also helps that Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion and FCO are doing some career best work, all while drawing countless more characters than they did in Batman. Man, this book is fucking fun.